Abstract

The present study was designed to determine and analyze the mt genomes of Metastrongylus salmi (M. salmi), and reveal the phylogenetic relationships of this parasite using mt DNA sequences. Results showed that the complete mt genome of M. salmi was 13722 bp containing 12 protein-coding genes (cox1-3, nad1-6, nad4L, atp6 and cytb), 22 transfer RNA genes, and 2 ribosomal RNA genes (rrnL and rrnS). The overall A+T content was 73.54% and the nucleotide composition was A (23.52%), C (6.14%), G (19.60%), T (50.02%), and N (UCAG) (0.73%). A total of 4237 amino acids are encoded from the Tibetan isolates of M. salmi mt genomes. The ATA was predicted as the most common starting codon with 41.7% (5/12 protein genes); and 11 of the 12 protein genes were found to have a TAG or TAA translation termination codon. By clustering together the phylogenetic trees of Tibetan M. salmi and Austrian M. salmi, the M. salmi isolated from Tibetan pigs was found to be highly homological with that stemmed from Austrian one. This information provides meaningful insights into the phylogenetic position of the M. salmi China isolate and represents a useful resource for selecting molecular markers for diagnosis and population studies.